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Belfast Celtic F.C.
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Belfast Celtic F.C.
Belfast Celtic Football Club was an Irish football club. Founded in 1891 in Belfast, it was one of the most successful teams in Ireland until it withdrew permanently from the Irish League in 1949. The club left the league for political reasons, as the team and its supporters were largely Catholic and Irish nationalist. Belfast Celtic was one of four clubs that attracted the biggest crowds in the Irish League, the other three being Linfield, Distillery and Glentoran. Belfast Celtic played its last match in 1960.
The club, formed in 1891 simply as Celtic, was named after Celtic Football Club of Glasgow. Upon incorporation as a limited company in 1901 however, the club was officially named as "Belfast Celtic Football and Athletic Company, Limited", with the title "The Celtic Football & Athletic Company Ltd" already being officially registered by the Glasgow club. The Belfast club therefore became known from 1901 onwards as Belfast Celtic. Their home from the same year was Celtic Park on Donegall Road in west Belfast, known to the fans as "Paradise". Celtic won their first league title in 1900 after beating fierce rivals Linfield by a single goal.
The severe political violence that began to engulf Ireland in the 1920s spilled onto the pitches and terraces of the Irish League. In 1920, the Irish Football Association fined and suspended the club following violent incidents at the Irish Cup semi-final. Celtic was forced to abandon their participation in the 1920–21 season, and did not rejoin the league until 1924–25 season. Celtic's support base was strongly Irish nationalist and Catholic but the club also enjoyed significant support from some local west Belfast Unionists and Protestants, who accounted for about 10 percent of the fan base.
Despite the background of political turmoil, the club went from strength to strength and the inter-war period proved to be Celtic's strongest: they were league champions four years running after their return to the league, and in the 1947–48 season, they recorded 31 consecutive wins across all competitions, which still stands as a European record. The club also produced some of the greatest players of their generation, and at one stage had five international goalkeepers in their squad.
The catalyst for the end of the club came on 27 December 1948, at the traditional Boxing Day league game between Linfield and Celtic at Windsor Park. Celtic were winning for most of the match but Linfield equalised in the final minute. Ecstatic Linfield fans invaded the pitch and began attacking several Celtic players, including centre-forward Jimmy Jones, who suffered a broken leg and was kicked unconscious, and Robin Lawlor and Kevin McAlinden, who were both seriously hurt.
Linfield issued a statement in which they blamed the attack on continual provocation from Celtic. Celtic's own statement, whilst equally blaming Linfield, focused particular criticism on the police who were present, who remained passive and made no arrests: "During the whole of this concerted attack the protection afforded to the unfortunate players may be fairly described as quite inadequate. In the circumstances the directors wish to make the strongest possible protest against the conduct of those responsible for the protection of the players in failing to take measures either to prevent the brutal attack or to deal with it with any degree of effectiveness after it developed."
Celtic also felt that the response from the Irish Football Association had been wholly inadequate. The team's management met on the night of the match and decided that the club had no option other than to withdraw entirely from the league after the end of the 1949 season. Northern Irish journalist Frank Curran later commented, "[Belfast F.C.] knew that it wasn't a football problem, and that there was nothing they as a football club could do to end it. So they got out."
Belfast Celtic played their final Irish League match on Thursday April 21, 1949 when they defeated Cliftonville 4–3 at Celtic Park. The club then went on a 10-game tour of the United States and Canada in May and June 1949. The dates of the tour forced the team to withdraw from the County Antrim Shield after qualifying to the semi-final, in which they were replaced by Linfield, whom they had earlier beaten 4–0. While the team was preparing to set sail for New York, it was announced publicly that Celtic intended to leave the league, pending the final decision of the club's shareholders at their annual meeting in June.
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Belfast Celtic F.C.
Belfast Celtic Football Club was an Irish football club. Founded in 1891 in Belfast, it was one of the most successful teams in Ireland until it withdrew permanently from the Irish League in 1949. The club left the league for political reasons, as the team and its supporters were largely Catholic and Irish nationalist. Belfast Celtic was one of four clubs that attracted the biggest crowds in the Irish League, the other three being Linfield, Distillery and Glentoran. Belfast Celtic played its last match in 1960.
The club, formed in 1891 simply as Celtic, was named after Celtic Football Club of Glasgow. Upon incorporation as a limited company in 1901 however, the club was officially named as "Belfast Celtic Football and Athletic Company, Limited", with the title "The Celtic Football & Athletic Company Ltd" already being officially registered by the Glasgow club. The Belfast club therefore became known from 1901 onwards as Belfast Celtic. Their home from the same year was Celtic Park on Donegall Road in west Belfast, known to the fans as "Paradise". Celtic won their first league title in 1900 after beating fierce rivals Linfield by a single goal.
The severe political violence that began to engulf Ireland in the 1920s spilled onto the pitches and terraces of the Irish League. In 1920, the Irish Football Association fined and suspended the club following violent incidents at the Irish Cup semi-final. Celtic was forced to abandon their participation in the 1920–21 season, and did not rejoin the league until 1924–25 season. Celtic's support base was strongly Irish nationalist and Catholic but the club also enjoyed significant support from some local west Belfast Unionists and Protestants, who accounted for about 10 percent of the fan base.
Despite the background of political turmoil, the club went from strength to strength and the inter-war period proved to be Celtic's strongest: they were league champions four years running after their return to the league, and in the 1947–48 season, they recorded 31 consecutive wins across all competitions, which still stands as a European record. The club also produced some of the greatest players of their generation, and at one stage had five international goalkeepers in their squad.
The catalyst for the end of the club came on 27 December 1948, at the traditional Boxing Day league game between Linfield and Celtic at Windsor Park. Celtic were winning for most of the match but Linfield equalised in the final minute. Ecstatic Linfield fans invaded the pitch and began attacking several Celtic players, including centre-forward Jimmy Jones, who suffered a broken leg and was kicked unconscious, and Robin Lawlor and Kevin McAlinden, who were both seriously hurt.
Linfield issued a statement in which they blamed the attack on continual provocation from Celtic. Celtic's own statement, whilst equally blaming Linfield, focused particular criticism on the police who were present, who remained passive and made no arrests: "During the whole of this concerted attack the protection afforded to the unfortunate players may be fairly described as quite inadequate. In the circumstances the directors wish to make the strongest possible protest against the conduct of those responsible for the protection of the players in failing to take measures either to prevent the brutal attack or to deal with it with any degree of effectiveness after it developed."
Celtic also felt that the response from the Irish Football Association had been wholly inadequate. The team's management met on the night of the match and decided that the club had no option other than to withdraw entirely from the league after the end of the 1949 season. Northern Irish journalist Frank Curran later commented, "[Belfast F.C.] knew that it wasn't a football problem, and that there was nothing they as a football club could do to end it. So they got out."
Belfast Celtic played their final Irish League match on Thursday April 21, 1949 when they defeated Cliftonville 4–3 at Celtic Park. The club then went on a 10-game tour of the United States and Canada in May and June 1949. The dates of the tour forced the team to withdraw from the County Antrim Shield after qualifying to the semi-final, in which they were replaced by Linfield, whom they had earlier beaten 4–0. While the team was preparing to set sail for New York, it was announced publicly that Celtic intended to leave the league, pending the final decision of the club's shareholders at their annual meeting in June.